A Better Place to Be
by xToastedZelda
Summary: "I spent a week there one afternoon and I came away with this story which is a rather strange tale of a [hunter], a [busboy], and a girl he picks up one night and it's called A Better Place To Be." -Harry Chapin, edited by xToastedZelda. [destiel AU one-shot]


**A/N: This is based on a song with the same name by Harry Chapin (give it a listen, if you would). **

**I don't own Supernatural nor do I own Harry Chapin's music.**

**(this is the first real fanfic I've ever written so please review or whatever)**

* * *

It was an early morning bar room and the place just opened up. Castiel carefully wiped down the counter one final time before switching on the neon sign in the window. He barely made it back to the bar when the bell chimed, signaling a customer at the door. Suddenly, a green-eyed man with a rugged attire is pouring himself a glass as he sits at the bar. Castiel looks at him expectantly.

"Hello, Dean," he began, "It has been quite some time. Where've you been?" He paused, studying his wretched facial expression, and added, "And why you look so down?"

The medium-build man stayed still as if he'd never heard a sound.

Castiel gave out with a cough and, acting not the least put off, he spoke once again. He said, "I don't mean to disrupt your silence, consider it as understood. I know I'm not the best at giving advice," he said as he gestured toward himself, "but I do listen well."

Dean took his drink in his hand and he raised it to his lips, he took a couple of sips, and then he told the busboy this story:

"Castiel," he reads from his nametag, "I'm a hunter. I watched my dad hunt, now I watch Sammy hunt alongside me." He sighed heavily before continuing. "A week ago, at the diner, I stopped to get some pie when this really hot chick," he emphasized, "sat two seats down from me. And god damn, she was all right," he finished with a soft chuckle. "I mean," he smiled own at his drink with an element of brokenness, "She was so damn beautiful, she could warm a winter frost. But she looked so lonely and," he paused again, "deep in thought, I guess." He took another small sip of his liquor and gestured carelessly to himself before speaking again.

"Now, I'm not usually one to pick up girls just anywhere-" Castiel gave Dean a stern look and he corrected himself humbly, "Alright, whatever. Anyway, I decided to give her one good try. And man," he nodded his head toward Castiel with a sly smile, "she was worth a try."

He then straightened slightly up as if to prepare himself for the next part of the story. "I…well, I definitely do not have a problem with taking to the ladies, I was probably just tired, but I stammered out some words. I mean, I guess it didn't matter, 'cause I don't think she heard. She just looked clear through me to a space back in my head. It shamed me into silence and she whispered, 'If you want me to come with you, then that's all right with me. Cause I know I'm going nowhere, and anywhere's a better place to be.'" Dean looked up at Castiel with a neutral expression.

Castiel returned the look and asked, "Then what?"

Dean averted his gaze back to the glass. "Well, I, I drove her to the motel and kicked Sam out," he smiled for a moment, "And I went to turn on the light, y'know, so we could see what we were doing…and she stopped me." Deans hands tightened slightly against the edge of the glass. He continued, "She said that she didn't mind the dark. Then," he breathed, "as her clothes all tumbled 'round her," he stopped to smile, "I could hear my heart. And the way the moonlight hit her as she lay back in the bed," he sighed happily. Castiel's slight frown went unnoticed by Dean who didn't realize quite how much he was sharing. "It was the kind of scene I only had imagined in my head.

"I just could not believe it, like, c'mon, this is real? Then I went to tell her and she shushed me and said, 'I know just how you feel.'" He smiled up at Castiel with a nudge. "Hot, right?"

Castiel swallowed hard but nodded.

Dean smiled hard and continued, "Then she leaned up and whispered, 'If you want to come here with me, then that's all right with me. 'Cause I've been so lonely, lovin' someone is a better way to be.'…Yeah, then we had awesome sex," he finished with a light-hearted wink.

Then Castiel spoke out again. "So…uh, in the morning?" he asked cautiously.

"Right," Dean said with a forlorn sigh. "Well, morning came quick and she was still in my arms." He remembers with a slight smile. "She slept like a baby, all snug and safe from harm. I, uh, I didn't want to share her with the world or break the mood, so before she woke I went out to buy us both some food."

Dean let out a long, dejected breath as he said, "I came back with a paper bag to find that she was gone." Deans face changed from depressed to numb. "She'd left a six-word letter…saying 'It's time that I moved on.'"

Castiel took his bar rag and wiped it across his eyes. As he spoke his voice came out as something like a sigh. He said, "I wish that I were desired…" then thought or that you were bi. He continued, "I wish I were not some busboy at a bar." Castiel looked up at Dean with want and risk in his eyes. "I wish that you were mine." Dean looked thoughtful at that statement as Castiel persisted with speaking, "And I wish that you would come with me when I leave for home for we both know all about emptiness and living all alone."

Dean looked back down at the empty glass in his hand and smiled a crooked grin. "I guess I'm out of whiskey," he said as he smiled back up at Castiel. "And I know we both have been so…" he trailed off, as if not wanting to finish the statement. "…If you want me to come with you, then that's all right with me, 'cause I know I'm going nowhere and anywhere is a better place to be."


End file.
